Ella 
In early Asian trading on Thursday, the New Zealand dollar/US dollar continued its decline and fell below the mid-0.6200 level. The downside for NZD/USD is supported by a stronger US dollar. In the absence of economic data from New Zealand, the NZD/USD exchange rate remains influenced by USD price dynamics. NZD/USD is currently trading around 0.6242, down 0.04% on the day.
New Zealand economic data was quiet this week. In early trading on Thursday, China’s Caixin Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for December jumped to 52.9 from 51.5 in November, higher than the expected value of 51.6.
Although participants expected policy rates to be at or near the peak of this tightening cycle, the minutes of the Fed meeting made it clear that the direction of monetary policy will depend on the performance of the economy. In other words, the Fed’s dovish comments still boosted the US dollar and were negative for NZD/USD.
